1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a public health oriented board game system and more particularly pertains to educating people and promoting awareness as to the nature of infectious diseases, traumatic injuries, chemical threats, and public health issues.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The public has access to medical news and public health announcements, as well as publications that focus on self-help and self-treatment, which tend to be unreliable or inaccurate. Much of the information results in consumer confusion, with minimal understanding of the specific topic. Once the information is broadcasted or published, consumers have little information on how to explore the issue further and educate themselves about a certain issue.
The nation""s premier public health agency, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (xe2x80x9cCDCxe2x80x9d), strives to keep the public informed of various issues, events, and situations that can affect the health of individuals and the general public. One of the goals of the CDC is behavior change that is conducive to good health. To achieve this goal, an effective medium of communication must be utilized, which captures the individual""s interest, and conveys useful information that can assist in health promotion. Some of the ways that CDC promotes good health include its many public announcements, its posting of health-related information on its website, and the publication of the agency""s weekly report, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (xe2x80x9cMMWRxe2x80x9d).
This board game system provides an entertaining method to promote behavior change that is conducive to good health. The game focuses on public health-related topics and is primarily based upon MMWR reports from the years 1982 through early 2002 and from public health information found on CDC""s website. Health topics include communicable diseases, environmental health, behavior or life-style factors, and chronic, non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and asthma. Also included is information on the topic of bioterrorism.
The difficulty of the questions ranges from simplistic, and occasionally humorous, to complex. Many of the topics have been well-publicized in the media and should sound familiar to most players. Furthermore, the questions and medical concepts that appear on the question cards are phrased in such a manner that many adults who are not members of the medical profession would understand. In the event that players do not know the correct answer to a question, the choices listed should provide an easy way to eliminate implausible answers.
For additional background information or additional references on the topic at hand, an information booklet is included with the game. The booklet includes a few summary sentences on the question""s topic and the specific MMWR article or CDC website location of additional, more in-depth information. Thus, this game provides a structured yet fun way to learn about public health issues.
The use of board games of known designs and configurations is known in the prior art. More specifically, board games of known designs and configurations previously devised and utilized for the purpose of educating people through concentrated methods and apparatuses are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,860 to xe2x80x9cAIDS: THE EPIDEMIC BOARD GAMExe2x80x9d discloses a method of playing a board game on the subject of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (xe2x80x9cAIDSxe2x80x9d). Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,391 to xe2x80x9cEDUCATIONAL BOARD GAMExe2x80x9d discloses an educational board game for teaching the harmful effects of chemical substance abuse.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a public health oriented board game system that educates people and promotes awareness as to the nature of infectious diseases, traumatic injuries, chemical threats, and public health issues.
In this respect, a public health oriented board game system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of educating people and promoting awareness as to the nature of infectious diseases, traumatic injuries, chemical threats, and public health issues.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved public health oriented board game system which can be used for educating people and promoting awareness as to the nature of infectious diseases, traumatic injuries, chemical threats, and public health issues. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of board games of known designs and configurations now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved public health oriented board game system As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved public health oriented board game system and method which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a public health oriented board game for educating people and promoting awareness as to the nature of infectious diseases, traumatic injuries, chemical threats, and public health issues. This educational board game emphasizes medical hazards imposed by various infectious diseases and environmental exposures, and also includes information pertaining to the latest topics in bioterrorism.
Teens through adults will find the game informative, pertinent, interesting, and challenging. The game is designed to be played by two to six players. The objects of the game are: (1) to learn about common and some not so common health hazards including infectious diseases, environmental hazards, and chemical agents; (2) to learn about some agents that are considered to be potential weapons, the so-called agents of bioterrorism; (3) to be the first to finish the game by successfully answering questions, using various strategies, and of course, having some luck on your side; and most of all (4) to have fun.
The public health oriented board game system is comprised primarily of a game board, player tokens which are referred to as xe2x80x9cVectors,xe2x80x9d usually an animal or arthropod, that can transmit a disease or illness to humans, playing cards, each card having questions related to infectious diseases, traumatic injuries, chemical threats, and public health issues, xe2x80x9cAnti-Hazardxe2x80x9d cards, one rolling die, one xe2x80x9cAnti-Hazardxe2x80x9d die, and an Information Booklet that provides background information and references for the individual questions.
During the game, players randomly select playing cards and answer the questions presented on the cards in order to move their respective Vector along the game board path. The number of squares that a player advances depends upon whether or not the player answers the question correctly or incorrectly. An incorrect answer results in the player moving forward only one square. If the question is answered correctly, the player then rolls the numbered die to determine how many squares the player advances.
Over the course of the game, players may happen to land on the square which leads to one of the Hazard Traps on the board. If a player lands on one of these squares, the player has been exposed to the specific hazard and risks becoming ill from the hazard unless the player escapes from the Hazard Trap within a certain number of turns. If the player is unable to escape within a given number of turns, the player must move the player""s Vector to the first square of the preceding Hazard Trap. If the player is unable to escape from the first Hazard Trap, then the player must move the player""s Vector back to the xe2x80x9cSTARTxe2x80x9d square.
In general, the number of squares within a Hazard Trap corresponds to the lethality of the hazard. Thus, more serious illnesses or consequences have more playing squares in the Hazard Trap. The game is ultimately won by the first player to successfully escape and/or avoid the Hazard Traps and land on the xe2x80x9cFINISHxe2x80x9d square.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved public health oriented board game system which has all of the advantages of the prior art board games of known designs and configurations and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved public health oriented board game system which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved public health oriented board game system which is of durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved public health oriented board game system which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such a public health oriented board game system economically available to the buying public.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved public health oriented board game system for educating people and promoting awareness as to the nature of infectious diseases, traumatic injuries, chemical threats, and public health issues.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved game board system, which includes a game board, playing cards, xe2x80x9cAnti-Hazardxe2x80x9d cards, a numbered die, an xe2x80x9cAnti-Hazardxe2x80x9d die, player tokens, and an Information Booklet.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.